This stellar “Playin’ In The Band” is worth admission alone here. Captain Trips and the boys will melt your face off, man! It starts off simple enough, but once ya get to the meat and potatoes of this tune you’ll realize ya got more than ya bargained for on this cerebral roller coaster. Everybody’s “on”. Now I’m only listening to this on my laptop while enjoy a good cuppa Barry’s, but it sounds clean and the mix well balanced. Purists with a system that can hear a gnat shit on the moon may disagree. Whatever. I digress! Back to this scorcher of a “playin’” that really won’t let ya forget that, in the immortal words of Dean Moriarty, these guys “Know time”. They really play “out” with Keith, Phil, and Jerry melding into one super being that melts faces using 12 notes and a transcendence of time and space. All for the benefit and actual joy, Nay! Absolute delight of the aforementioned face meltee, alluded to earlier. ie: You, good listener. Enjoy the sonic titillation of tones for your encephalons, my fellow humans. I wish there were more to this fleeting show. Stay “Groovy Muthafuckas!”✌️😎

Phil is on fire throughout this whole show and his bass is turned up or picked up betta then the use. that is def the striking point for me.

18:30 = sick

It would impossible to do this Playin' justice with mere words wow

The show AFTER is also nice. I think the previous reviewer is alluding to this.
11/18 PITB is most intense.

I Saw DSO do this show and they did have Playin in the Band in the setlist, maybe they did play it that night, regardless DSO created an equally intense version the night I saw them, listening to the real show the next day as I always do after a DSO show, was able to hear how this magnificent playin' inspired DSO's approach to the jam that night. Great show too, the night before is a really great show as well, just heard it on gdradio

Plying in the Band was not performed on this night. This playing is apparently an insert. But whoa what a version!. What night is this truly from? Anyone have the original show? I'd love to hear the rest of a night on which Phil sounded like that.

4 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5. A wild PITB the only thing missing is TOO. They did Dark Star the following night. Now that's something to write home about. After listening to this again 5 STARS out of 5. Isn't great to be a Deadhead????

OK like others have said this show as a whole isn't really worthy of your attention, but THE sole reason to check it out is the crazy PITB; based on this version alone, this is easily worth 5-stars. i personally don't mind phil high in the mix, 'cause he carries this insane jam to unbelievable heights. i can't really think of too many instances where he is this ON FIRE.
fall '72 was special indeed...

very good. But not my favorite of all time, so to speak.
What I love about it is how crazy the guys get during the song. They just spaz out. Jerry goes nuts, so does Phil, Bill, Keith, Bobby, even the stage-hands. Intense is the correct word here.
Like other posters alluded to, Phil is overmixed and really overpowers Jerry and the gang. I find it hard to enjoy the song because he is something like 2x louder than Jerry.
So I can't give it "my favorite." Not yet. As of right now my two favorite versions are 2/26/77 and 8/21/72 (not Veneta!...The Berkeley show). I'm listening to these two right now before I give this Playin' it's fair ranking in my list of all time favorite Playin's. And I'm one of those Playin' whores, yup.
Just my opinion.

5. Jerry's twangy vocals on everything he sings.
4. A searing hot version of Sugar Magnolia.
3. Fantastic He's Gone with great group vocalizing before a spectacular closing jam/Garcia solo. Shows how much they evolved in Fall '72.
2. Phil.
1. The BEST, most intense version of Playin' in the Band I've ever heard, bar none.
This show doesn't get the huge praise it deserves.

The great thing about Phil is his basis in improvisational and creative music. You can see it as he explores a jam listening to Jerry and the drummers and how his facial expressions transport him into unchartered territory and he laughts at himself when he tries to "eternally recur" ala Nietzche with an improvised couplet.
Remember, boys and girls Phil played Stan Kenton before the dead played through him. Many don't realize the importance of Phil's guitar playing bass style as well as his transcendental ability to conjure a jam from thin air.
Phil transports this Playin to beyond ordinary dimensions. Could be the twenty-third by now.
How could Phil be too loud? Hint: turn down the bass or loudness control.
Jerry is also a maniac during Playin and rendering a mind-bending space jam that will melt your brain.

Are you people retarded? Just download or listen to the show and you'll see they DID PLAY IT. Furthermore, check out the "Taping Compendium Vol. I", by John Dwork and Michael Getz. There is a review of 11/18/72 in there, with the complete setlist and a REVIEW of how AWESOME this PLAYING IN THE BAND was. Deadbase also has the setlist of this show, and also has Playin as being played this night. The end.

Great show high energy. ..loved it..
The Playin'n is the gratest version ive ever heard. amazing sound and bass sooooo trippy. i could onl immagine how amazing it would have been to be there

This review of a show is bogus the only great song is playin and they did not even play it.
do your homework before you review it.

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FYI -
Deadbase has it listed: the PlayinâÂÂs rightbtween deal and half step ----
oh yeah, my bruthas and sisters, this oneâÂÂs more than worthy --
record for your pleasure
whenever's clever
The Playin is:
- fast
- jerbear dope
- dives right in ---
- fat base ---
-- rich SBD recording
- great mix
------> philâÂÂs on phriggin phire!
oh, and hey, findyourself!!
be careful: jerry never treyâÂÂd ---
but trey certainly tried to jerry
There is NOTHING like a Grateful Dead Show

In my search for "the very best rendition of..." I came across this show. I enjoyed the Playin' and appreciate the energy level, since I have nothing better to offer as one-ups-manship, I'll resign that this, too, is my favorite. Per A.J.K.'s note, I'm going to go checkout 8/27. I and thought that He's Gone was also quite good.

Playing in the Band was not played at this show.
'72 is the worst year on record for Dead taping. Unfortunately, a great year performance wise is overshadowed by poor sounding and incomplete tapes.

Jerry is trey-ing out in the playin'

The sound of this is great but it is overblown (corresponding to the loudness in the music) and Phil is a little too loud.

OK, The PITB is an exceptional version, and qualifies as a MUST download. The rest is just alright, nothing remarkable, except maybe for the "flatulence" in "He's Gone". That's pretty funny. However, lately I've been using the initials RBD(Ruined By Donna)on my jewel cases, to remind myself of particularly horrible performances(if you can call them that), so as not to be unduely shocked by them upon playback. I would invite anyone to employ this approach to this set on GSET, PITB, S. Mag, and OMSN. Yipes!

Bill Kreutzman. Just maybe the most underrated drummer of all time. Oh, yeah, the Playin is, well, damn...

the boys shred this one to pieces.
This Playing in the Band is a furious summation of ever-ascending peaks, much like the development of this song over the previous year.
All the Playins from 1972 are just smoking... and they get hotter and hotter...
Could they have gotten any hotter than this?!?
Use this one for filler, don't bother w/the other songs
that hiss gets noticeable when the temperature cools

UNBELIEVABLE!!! The band is in another dimension. Phil is totally insane. One of the best I've ever heard. Phil is so in charge on this and the whole band just explodes! Listen again and again...

except for that Playin'. There are really no words in this language to describe it. I never thought that the Veneta Playin' could be topped, but low and behold there is a Playin' that blows even that clear out of the water. To paraphrase Dick L., Phil makes those bass notes so big you feel like your head could explode. The Playin' alone is more than enough to download this show, since the rest of it is pretty much standard '72. The sound quality is somewhat hissy, too, but good nonetheless.

Playin is one of the best I've ever heard

You have to hear this Playin...without a doubt one of the best ever. It reaches out so far and wide you better hold on to your sanity. There is one point that you know if it goes just one more notch that you could lose your mind. Superb

This Playin' is superb. For a good time, download this Playin and the one from the next night and compare and contrast. This one is definitely very dark, very aggressive and should be listened to immediately. Phil is especially.. umm.. Phil-like, but the whole band is totally locked in and raging. 4 stars only because the crispness of the sound is not exactly perfect.

Definately a high energy set. Rockin Bertha/ Greatest Story. Nice He's Gone and Miss. Half Step. Heck, they are all good! Highlight is the Playin. This one really goes places with the boys firing on all cylinders. Be forwarned, this is not your usual 72 Playin. It gets VERY intense! I can see why this was supposedly a fav of Latvalas...Man this tune really has gone places since the start of the year. A must for the lovers of 72 Dead!
5 for the music
4 for being a partial
4 for sound

What a fantastic Playin! Definately in the top 3 if not the best- He's gone is clipped a few times and harder to listen to, but overshadowed by a incredible show! too bad it's only the second set that's available--

Quite possibly. This is every bit as good as the 8/27/72 version, and it not only "gets out of the box" sooner, but gets spacier as well. Worth 5 stars for this song alone, but the rest of the show is also quite good.